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EZEKIEL 38-39 23 Summary of the Conflict

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EZEKIEL 38-39 23 Summary of the Conflict Lesson EZEKIEL 38-39 23 Summary of the Conflict In the latter years, Gog of Magog, with a mighty army of allies, will come up against God’s people like a cloud, to plunder and pillage. In His wrath and fury, God will call for a sword against Gog, raining down on him and his troops flooding rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone. God will knock the bow out his left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of his right hand. Summary of the Conflict Gog and his army will fall upon the mountains of Israel, and be left to the birds of prey and the beasts of the field (a nice supper for them). Israel will burn the weapons left by Gog’s troops, which will give them enough wood to build fires for 7 years. It will take 7 months (and then some) for Israel to bury all the bodies in the appointed burial place (necessary to cleanse the land). A Lesson Learned by All “I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD” (38:23). “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them” (39:21). “So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward” (39:22). Comfort For God’s People “I hid My face from them…I gave them into the hand of their enemies…according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them” (39:23-24). “I will NOT hide My face from them anymore” (39:29). Premillennial View They use these two chapters to say there will be some kind of literal, physical battle in the literal land of Israel between the forces of good and the forces of evil. They combine these two chapters with those in Revelation 16:12-21; 19:17-21; 20:7-10 and make them apply to a great battle they call “the battle of Armageddon.” Literal or Symbolic? A great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that fish, birds, and beasts shake at God’s presence? Mountains thrown down, steep pathways collapse, every wall falls to the ground? (38:19-20). Weapons of wood, enough wood to make fires for 7 years? (39:9-10). Literal or Symbolic? Takes all of Israel 7 months to bury the dead? (39:12-23). Villages “without walls, and having neither bars nor gates”? (38:11). And exactly who is this mysterious character Gog? Can anyone identify him with certainty? Who is Gog? A man named Gog is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 5:4, in the genealogy of Reuben. Can’t be him, because he lived much earlier. Then, only in these two chapters of Ezekiel, and in Revelation 20:8. “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?” (Ezekiel 38:17). Who is Gog? But where do other prophets speak of him? I can’t find him mentioned by name by any other prophets. Conclusion: They must speak of him under other names or under other figures of speech. Who is Gog? Other names associated with Gog in these two chapters: . Magog, Rosh, Meshech, Tubal (38:2-3; 39:1); Persia, Ethiopia (Cush), Libya (Put) (38:5); Gomer, Togarmah (38:6); Sheba, Dedan, merchants of Tarshish (38:13). Rosh not found anywhere else in O.T. to describe a nation or place. It means “head,” or “chief.” . KJV: “The chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” Who is Gog? The other characters: . The land of Magog—Magog was a son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2); Tubal and Meshech also sons of Japheth (Gen. 10:2); Gomer was a son of Japheth (Gen. 10:3), and Togarmah was a son of Gomer (Gen. 10:3); Persians may have come from Madai, a son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2). Cush and Put were sons of Ham (Gen. 10:6); Sheba and Dedan descendants of Ham (Gen. 10:7). Tarshish a descendant of Japheth (Gen. 10:4). Significance? Not one descendant of Shem in the army of Gog! Why is that significant? . Israel descended from Shem. Keep in mind how Israel is used in these two chapters—not just physical Israel, but the true people of God. A conflict, then, between God’s people and the unsaved world, represented by the descendants of Ham and Japheth. Time Frame? When would Gog bring his forces against Israel? . “After many days…in the latter years” (38:8). “In the latter days” (38:16). See Isa. 2:2; Dan. 2:28; Hos. 3:5; Mic. 4:1; Acts 2:17; 2 Tim. 3:1; Heb. 1:2; 1 Peter 1:20; 2 Peter 3:3. “I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel” (39:29; see Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16ff). Main Point? In the past, God’s people were overwhelmed by their enemies, time and time again. Wicked men and nations will continue to oppose God, but the day is coming when the kingdom of God will be able to withstand any and every enemy, no matter how mighty they be. His kingdom will stand—those who oppose it will fall! Passages . “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44). Psalms 2:1-12 (application in Acts 4:25-28). Passages “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Passages “Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory” (Hag. 2:6-7, ESV). “I will shake heaven and earth. I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I will destroy the strength of Gentile kingdoms. I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them; the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother” (Hag. 2:21-22). Passages “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:26-28). Book of Revelation “When God established His kingdom in the face of the opposition of all men, and sustained its “unwalled villages” against the might of the Roman empire, He showed the fate of all earthly kingdoms and empires. He demonstrated that His kingdom is the one that would not be shaken, the one that would stand forever. By upholding such an apparently defenseless kingdom against all the nations of men could do, God sanctified Himself as God” (Bob Waldron). .
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